Bulldogs Blank Blue Sox Knot Series at 1-1

Lexington – On Friday night, the Lexington Bulldogs evened their semifinal series with the neighboring Blue Sox, 3-0, at Center 1 Field.

Ian Born got the call for the Bulldogs and responded with six shutout innings. He scattered 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 3. Matt Marini closed out the game with the only 1-2-3 inning for Bulldogs pitching.

The Bulldogs broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. With one out,  Seamus Condon went the opposite way and doubled down the left field line. This brought runners to the corners on Matthew Favazzo’s infield single. Following that, Caleb Cormier delivered a single to right, and Condon scored with the only run the Bulldogs would need. After a walk to Aidan Murphy loaded the bases, the Blue Sox got out of trouble with an inning-ending double play. Jack Lee lofted a fly ball into foul territory on the first base side. Sox first baseman Frank Landeiro went after the ball and made the catch, lunging back towards the field. Favazzo tagged up and headed home; Landeiro made a perfect throw to catcher Max Dushney, and Favazzo was easily out, ending the inning.

Shane Costello delivered the final two Bulldogs runs in the fifth, hitting a two-run home run to left that scored Peyton Heisner (single) with no outs. It was Costello’s first playoff home run.

Michael O’Brien started for the Blue Sox, pitching 5.1 innings. He allowed 6 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. The lefty retired eight straight from the first through fourth innings before Condon snapped the streak with a single.

With each team starting a southpaw, the game began as a battle of lefties.  Through the first three innings, the two starters faced a combined 21 batters, three over the minimum.

The Blue Sox had at least a runner on base in every inning but the seventh. But ran themselves out of possible scoring opportunities. The Bulldogs threw out two Sox runners attempting to steal. The Sox had a runner thrown out at home, and another one picked off at second.

Moreover, the shutout was the second playoff blanking for the Bulldogs. Earlier, the first was on August 11, 2025, in a 7-0 win over Malden in their initial playoff game.

Game three will be Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:45 at Lexington High School.